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School of Business & Economics

Laurier business students to defend Jeux du Commerce Central title at 2012 games

Communications, Public Affairs & Marketing

Jan 16/12

Business students from Laurier’s School of Business & Economics will travel to Ottawa January 20, 2012 to compete in one of Canada’s largest case competitions. Jeux du Commerce (JDC) Central 2012, hosted at Carleton University, will welcome 400 students from 10 universities to a multi-faceted competition of eight academic cases, a parliamentary debate category, social challenges and a sports tournament.

Awards are given to participating universities from across Ontario and Maritime provinces based on achievement, overall school spirit, teamwork and competitive congeniality. The top university overall is awarded School of the Year. Laurier’s delegation of 48 students has been preparing for the competition since September. The team’s co-captain, Eileen Devlin, credits the dedication of her teammates and delegation coaches such as faculty advisor Pat Lemieux for the team’s progress.

"It's incredible to look back at where we started just a few short months ago, and to contrast that to the level that we're at now,” says Devlin. “All team members have developed in leaps and bounds, not only as individuals, but also as members of a collective team."

To prepare for the JDC, the team worked closely with faculty and staff, practiced weekly and participated in a mock competition with the cooperation of team sponsors such as Capital One, PwC, and Pepsi.

This year, Laurier is defending its back-to-back School of the Year wins and aims to become the first university nationwide to complete the “three-peat” at a JDC competition since 2004.

"Our biggest challenge will prove to be executing everything we have learned and worked on during the past four months,” says team captain Jordan Bishop. “Our motto, ‘ideas are nothing without execution,’ will be telling of our performance this weekend – we have all the tools we need, and now it just comes down to performing under that pressure."

The JDC competition begins Friday, Jan. 20. Rankings will be announced Jan. 22. Results will be released as they become available on Twitter through @jdccentral and @jdcclaurier.